Testimonials

We purchased a fixer-upper apartment in a lovely pre-war building. The walls were in terrible shape but we intended to do all the painting and plaster work ourselves. Over time, It became painfully apparent that we were not up to the task. I joined Angie’s List, made lists and charts of the contractors that passed my search criteria and researched them online. I called and emailed for estimates. After getting in touch with close to 10 painting contractors the field was narrowed down to about 5. This was also going to be a complicated estimate, as it included several rooms and portions that would be the co-op’s responsibility. After meeting with 4 contractors and getting estimates from 3, we decided to go with A.G. Williams even though they were the most expensive. Liane from AGW came within days, got the estimate to us quickly. And she was also great with details and helping us finalize our color choices.

Dealing with the management company, applications, and waiting for approvals from the co-op board took some time but A.G. Williams was very patient throughout the process. Their estimate from October 2013 for our living room and foyer was for prep, 3 coats, (primer and 2 coats) ceilings and mouldings, baseboards, and window frames using Benjamin Moore Regal Paints $3640. We received a seasonal reduction of 20% for a total of $2912. An additional $700 was added after work began because the foyer needed a ton of extra work including a skim coat due to walls that had paint over wallpaper puckering, peeling, and it all needed to be scraped off. This old wallpaper was also hiding extremely deep cracks.

The work lasted a full 5 days with 2 to 3 men working each day. I can’t impress how hard Christian and his team worked to pull it all together and what a beautiful job they did! They left the place relatively clean each night so we could get around without trekking debris and they protected all our rugs and furniture. They took an absolute disaster of an apartment and made it whole again! He discovered that there had been only 3 layers of paint covering the almost 100-year-old walls! Our apartment had been poorly maintained. I remember walking around after they had left for the day and just breaking into tears because our place looked like it had been in an earthquake with all the deep cracks. A tremendous amount of plaster and other wall materials were used to fill all the cracks and skill to smooth the walls and ceiling. We also greatly appreciated Paul and Liane inspecting the job site when the job was finished to make sure everything was up to their high standards.

We had already seen the sort of poor quality of work we had gotten with the mediocre contractors our co-op had hired for a different project in our apartment and how soon the work fell apart. That is why we hired A.G.Williams. They have been around for over 100 years and they stand by their work! They sent the men back for a few necessary touch ups and paid a top notch electrical company to replace an outlet that was damaged during all the construction.
We will continue to use AGW and highly recommend them to family and friends! You get what you pay for!